Callan Capital LLC Takes $138,000 Position in The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU)

Callan Capital LLC bought a new stake in The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 13,063 shares of the credit services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $138,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Foundry Partners LLC bought a new position in Western Union in the 3rd quarter valued at $8,124,000. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Western Union by 293.3% in the 3rd quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC now owns 198,002 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $2,362,000 after purchasing an additional 147,658 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in shares of Western Union by 20.0% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,698,559 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $20,264,000 after buying an additional 283,479 shares during the last quarter. Citigroup Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Western Union by 19.0% in the third quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 523,676 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $6,247,000 after buying an additional 83,715 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC bought a new position in shares of Western Union in the third quarter valued at about $734,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.81% of the company’s stock.

Western Union Trading Down 1.0 %

NYSE:WU opened at $10.63 on Monday. The Western Union Company has a 1-year low of $10.04 and a 1-year high of $14.19. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $10.54 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $11.13. The company has a current ratio of 1.20, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.04. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 3.89, a PEG ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 0.85.

Western Union (NYSE:WU) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The credit services provider reported $0.40 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.42 by ($0.02). Western Union had a net margin of 22.19% and a return on equity of 96.90%. On average, equities analysts expect that The Western Union Company will post 1.79 earnings per share for the current year.

Western Union announced that its board has approved a share buyback plan on Friday, December 13th that permits the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the credit services provider to buy up to 27.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Western Union Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Monday, March 17th will be given a $0.235 dividend. This represents a $0.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 8.84%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. Western Union’s dividend payout ratio is currently 34.43%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WU has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Western Union in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Western Union from $11.00 to $10.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective on shares of Western Union from $13.00 to $12.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on Western Union from $10.00 to $9.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Susquehanna cut their price target on Western Union from $13.00 to $12.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and nine have given a hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $12.11.

Western Union Company Profile

The Western Union Company provides money movement and payment services worldwide. The company operates through Consumer Money Transfer and Consumer Services segments. The Consumer Money Transfer segment facilitates money transfers for international cross-border and intra-country transfers, primarily through a network of retail agent locations, as well as through websites and mobile devices.